


Reading Tombstones

by Septic_wolf



Series: Darkness follows you [9]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Exposition, How does Alfred do that?, Immortal!Bruce, Jason Todd-centric, Meta!Bruce, Not much dialogue till the end, This gets a little heavy but not much, Very Jason heavy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28949955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Septic_wolf/pseuds/Septic_wolf
Summary: Jason finally goes to his grave. What he reads gets him thinking pretty hard about current events.
Series: Darkness follows you [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908796
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Reading Tombstones

Gone but not Forgotten.

A Good Soldier.

A Son.

Jason knew the moment that he woke up that day and decided that he was going to actually visit his grave was a mistake. He’d considered taking Dickface with him, but that was just… Not something that he felt that he could ask of his elder brother. Bruce was right out. Tim probably wanted nothing to do with him. So here he stands. Remembering the words of the plaque in the cave and staring at the words inscribed on the tombstone before him.

_A Son._

What a joke that was. Jason didn’t even consider himself to be anything close to a son. Not since he died. _How can I be your son, Bruce? When that son was killed and what took his place is a complete monster?_ Learning that Bruce… Would have to go through his death again put a stone in his gut that really made him want to hurl up his breakfast every morning for the past several months. What was his second death going to be? What about Dick? Or Tim? What were their deaths going to be like and how would Brue get through those?

If what Dick told him about Bruce when he died the first time, Jason hopes, for Gotham’s sake, that they all go from old age. But there wasn’t a guarantee with that. Not in their line of work. Jason sighed. “F&#*.” It was a time like this, with his line of thinking, that made Jason want to reach for that pack of cigarettes that he used to keep on him. What a time to quit…

Snow fell regularly in the winter. It was Gotham’s way of telling you that you’d freeze to death if you lived on the street. She’s kind enough to at least give you a warning. Jason had thought the snow was a beauty when he’d been on the streets himself. A blanket that would cover you into a chilling death, and make you look serine when you passed. Jason knew that simply from seeing an older fellow in the snow, white cascading over his too-thin jacket, and keeping off his face enough. He’d looked comfortable for the first time Jason had ever seen him. Covered in a white blanket of snow, undisturbed. Gotham claimed.

It made Jason wonder if it was really all that bad to go in the alleyways of Gotham, let the old gal take you permanently, and be content with the unmarked grave that the city gave to everyone who didn’t have a family or the money to put a name on your headstone. Bruce couldn’t even fund that. Can’t put a name on the grave of someone who doesn’t have an I.D. Still…

Jason took in a hissing breath.

His grave was marked. He’d had a family to bury him in the end. How many more graves would Bruce bother with after they were gone? If the old bat had kids… Would they also eventually die and join him and his brothers? Would they live to keep Bruce company after their bodies had long decomposed? What of Alfred? Jason shook away the thought. His brother’s being dead was hard enough to think about, he wouldn’t think of his grandfather’s death as well. But it still raised the question.

How long would Bruce stay after they were all gone?

After he outlived the Joker and all the rogues who seemed immortal in their own right? Jason could only ponder.

His shoulders were starting to ache from how tense they were getting. He had only worn his leather outside; the manor wasn’t too far away. He’d been buried just two plots away from Bruce’s parents. The ones who asked for this immortality on their only son. How were they going to break this to Bruce? Was it part of the deal that they die? Had they known their death was coming? Jason almost hoped that they didn’t know. That this immortality was just in case. Everything Bruce always told Jason about his parents, how kind, caring, thoughtful they were towards him. He hoped that it all was true. That they didn’t intentionally die just for their son to live.

_Would Bruce have asked the same for me, if given the chance?_

Soft footfalls came from behind Jason and he turned enough to see Bruce there. Heavy coat on his arm while wrapped up in his own. Turning fully Jason took the coat without prompt. It was really f*$&ing cold. “Did it help?”

Bruce’s words were soft, though said with caution. He knew that his father meant well in asking. _Did it help?_ Being able to actually see the grave he’d dug himself out of. Comparing it to the memorial in cave. Seeing that this was Bruce’s way of trying to move on from a son that he loved and cherished even though he had no way of knowing he’d get a part of him back. _To have a monster return with the face of his son._

“In a way.”

Jason and Bruce both stood at the grave with somber expressions. Bruce more or so looking at Jason, with the younger-looking back at the stone. “I hadn’t known how to explain you in so few words. I wanted to write out more, but they said I couldn’t pay enough to chisel it all. I didn’t know so they just put some… generic writing on it. It didn’t matter I suppose in the end, but I felt as if I did you a disservice by not putting something more sentimental on this stone. I tried to make up for that with the cave’s memorial. The one I would see every night, to remind me that… Not everyone can always get back up in the end.”

Jason swallowed, though found it difficult to with how closed up his throat felt. “Why put ‘Good Soldier’ on the cave memorial?”

“You were. If anything, you were a good soldier, but that wasn’t all you were to me, Jason. Batman put it there, but Bruce put everything else. I… I saw you in everything that I did. I was scared of what I would put or say or write when I put that up down there. For the world… I suppose that I left what Batman said more outside, for everyone else to think that I was moving past it. But I kept thinking more and more about it. I kept adding to that memorial every day until on that back of it was a long-winded speech about everything you really meant to me as my son and partner.” Bruce glanced at the grave, “I said how I regrated not saying that I loved you, that I missed you like a phantom limb, how I thought that you being gone was something impossible in my mind until it happened.”

“But I died-”

“You did. I had to wrestle with that for months and then Tim came in, and he reminded me of you. I kept saying your name when he was around. Kept relapsing to you in my arms, dying and being dead when I brought you back… Jason…”

The younger man fully turned to the father now, whose face was staring straight at him. His eyes were misted, though Jason couldn’t really tell. His face was rather blurry. “I hope you know that I tried to get to you in time. I went after the Joker and it took almost the whole Justice League to keep from killing him.” Now Bruce shivered, “I was willing to give up my rule once if it meant you would be able to rest in peace.”

There wasn’t much else to say on Jason’s part. He’d run to his father in a moment’s notice and they were laying in the snow, cold, sniffling, and hugging… Jason didn’t want to get up. Let go. Leave. He wanted to stay with his father.

“Perhaps some hot cocoa or hot tea is in order Master Bruce? Master Jason? I would rather not have Master Bruce dying from a fever.” Both men’s heads snapped to look at the butler with bewildered eyes.

“T-that sounds great, Alfred. We’ll be in, in a moment.” Alfred walked away, again without a sound. They watched him go.

“I swear. The metagene test is wrong… He shouldn’t be able to do that.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's been almost a whole month since my last post into this series and I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long. I got caught up in work and I was travelling around a lot. School is about to start up again soon, that's got me stressed but we are... Getting to be okay with that coming up. Gonna get my anxieties under control. I'm starting to actually figure myself out :) Which I'm really happy about. Who knew talking about your emotions and crap was actually good for you? 
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you guys like it. I enjoyed writing this. I wanted to get a good feel for Jason (the monster comment he uses will be discussed in a later instalment) and I'll probably write one for Tim real soon. And no worries y'all... Damian is coming. *insert evil laughter* 
> 
> Leave a kudos if you liked it   
> Leave a comment if you LOVED it :) 
> 
> Write for you again soon! 
> 
> Also, another little note. I have some other fics in the works, so subscribe to my page if you want to get ready to see those. I'll let you know in the notes though when those are up :) They'll be different than these fics, but still Batman centric. (Cause Batsy is the best.) Any who! Take care! 
> 
> Be kind to others, and also please be kind to yourself!


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